Shloka 8
राजधर्मः—प्रजापालनं दानयज्ञश्च
Royal Duty—Protection of Subjects, Generosity, and Sacrificial Discipline
यद् राष्ट्रेडकुशलं किज्चिद् राज्ञो5रक्षयत: प्रजा: । चतुर्थ तस्य पापस्य राजा भारत विन्दति
yad rāṣṭre 'kuśalaṁ kiñcid rājño 'rakṣayataḥ prajāḥ | caturthaṁ tasya pāpasya rājā bhārata vindati, bharatanandana ||
भरतनन्दन! यदि राजा प्रजा की रक्षा नहीं करता, तो उसके राज्य में प्रजा जो कुछ भी अशुभ करती है, उस पाप का चौथा भाग राजा को भोगना पड़ता है।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s dharma is protective governance; if the king neglects protection and oversight, he becomes morally accountable and incurs a share (one fourth) of the wrongdoing committed by his subjects within the realm.
In the Śānti Parva dialogue, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on rājadharma (the duties of kings). Here he emphasizes that failure to safeguard and regulate society is not neutral negligence but a culpable lapse that transfers part of the subjects’ sin to the king.